Sounds Good

Save room for Top 10 dessert trends
The Food Channel researched dessert trends (I want that job) and reports that with today’s economy, we want pampering. This is how we’ll get it in 2009:
1. Ice Cream as the Star — Usually relegated to a topping or an accompaniment to the dessert star, frozen desserts are coming into their own with new flavors, styles and presentation.
2. Sippable Desserts — Big in non-alcoholic versions, but many offer a kick reminiscent of pairing your coffee with your cognac.
3. Sharing Comes into the Open — Sharing the price, the caloric guilt and the experience means that more desserts will be topped with two cherries, split in the kitchen, or built to easily pass without sharing germs.
4. Out of the Ordinary Presentation — Restaurants will be adding more entertainment value to end the meal; picture flambé, which brings the same fireworks to the table as fajitas on a sizzling cast-iron skillet.
5. Interactivity — Play with your food; pour, dip or roll your dessert in another layer of sweet or salty. Dessert is the last impression of the meal. It should give you something worth talking about.
6. Nostalgia — Retro with a modern twist. Old standards like red velvet cake and bread pudding still work, but they’ve been contemporized.
7. Portability — Beyond the takeout cup or cone, the new portability includes edible containers.
8. Novelties — It’s a grim world, and novelties such as candies, ice cream pops, and crazy straws all have a place in cheering us up.
9. International and unusual flavors — Chocolate still reigns as the top flavor, but contrasting ingredients and international influences are stepping up.
10. Go seasonal and local — The trend toward “localvore” eating continues. Adding local fruits (or even vegetables — have you tried ice cream and beets?) gives a fresh sense to any dessert.

Top notch coffee
I confess I’m still new to enjoying coffee, but that makes me open and not set in my ways.
So I’m hearing about Sanani: The Original Mocha Coffee, a pure single-origin coffee that makers say is “so prized, that even the perceived imperfections are a desired characteristic. The irregular shape of these naturally organic beans, a result of inhospitable growing environment, produces one of the finest cups of coffee in the world.”
I couldn’t write copy like that. I want to savor those “perceived imperfections.”
This Yemeni coffee doesn’t have the aroma I’m used to. Sniffing the beans is my favorite part. But it does have its own, more subtle excitement. I’ve enjoyed it more each time I’ve brewed it. So now, I’m a fan like so many others. Sanani was in the Oscar nominee gift bags and appeared at President Obama’s pre-inauguration parties. Here’s more boast on the brew:
• Trade Mark: “The Most exclusive coffee in the world.”
• Promotional copy: “Once you have experienced this delightful coffee you will understand why it is by far the best coffee money can buy.”